MEGA MILLIONS FEVER SWEEPS CALIFORNIA; Miss California and Reality TV Stars Kick-Off Ticket Sales Events in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Fresno

06.22.2005
MEGA MILLIONS FEVER SWEEPS CALIFORNIA; Miss California and Reality TV Stars Kick-Off Ticket Sales Events in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Fresno

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (June 22, 2005) – For California, this is bigger than a blockbuster movie premiere in Hollywood, larger than Shamu’s big splash in San Diego, and more exhilarating than scaling Half Dome at Yosemite. For the first time ever, Californians can now play a multi-state lottery game and win MEGA Millions! Tickets go on sale today at more than 18,000 retail outlets with a chance to win huge jackpots that could reach more than $300 million dollars.

Miss California, Veena Goel is set to buy her tickets today in front of the Capitol steps in Sacramento, while reality TV personalities (The Apprentice cast-offs Omarosa, Bradford and Nick) are lining up to take another shot at becoming millionaires at the Farmers Market Newsstand in West Hollywood. Californians across the state are also getting in on the action with local radio personalities hosting events at Lottery retailers in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Fresno including:

Sacramento – From 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., Miss California buys her MEGA Millions tickets at the west steps of the Capitol in Sacramento. Celebration continues until 12:30 p.m. and ticket sales to continue until 2:00 p.m.
Los Angeles – From 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., reality TV stars buy their tickets at the Shelton Books at the Farmers Market Newsstand, 6333 W. 3rd Street in Los Angeles, hosted by KBIG 104.3; KRTH-FM hosts an event at the Shell Foodmart at 18101 Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana; and KLVE-FM (Spanish station) hosts an event at the Olympic Donuts at 3879 Whittier Blvd. in Los Angeles.
San Francisco area – From 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., KISQ-FM hosts an event at the Merritt Restaurant and Bakery at 203 E. 18th Street in Oakland.
San Diego – From 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., KFMB-FM “JACK FM” hosts an event at the Kearny Mesa Market at 7631 Linda Vista Rd. in San Diego.
Fresno – From 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., KSKS-FM hosts an event at the Catalanos Market at 7088 N. West Ave. in Fresno.

The MEGA Millions winning numbers will be drawn and broadcast live on Friday, June 24 from Hollywood, CA at 8 p.m. Pacific.

While it may take winners more than one lifetime to spend their winnings, it will take them only moments to learn how to play and only $1.00 to win. It’s as simple as M-E-G-A:

Mark five numbers from 1 to 56.
Elect one MEGA number from a second field of numbers from 1 to 46.
Get all five numbers plus the MEGA number to win the mega jackpot prize.
Alert your local Lottery retailer to collect and celebrate!

THE “GOLDEN STATE” EFFECT
If everything that the state touches turns to gold, then watch out MEGA Millions players across the country! With the addition of California to the mix, jackpots will now start at $12 million – instead of $10 million. The payouts for second and third prizes will increase as well. The actual prizes depend on the number of people that play – all the more reason for Californians to jump on this bandwagon and play MEGA Millions. While striking gold was once a mega fantasy in California, the overall odds of winning a prize in the MEGA Millions game are only 1 in 40. To strike it “mega,” the odds of winning the MEGA Millions jackpot are 1 in 176 million.

ABOUT MEGA MILLIONS
MEGA Millions draws will occur on Tuesday and Friday nights at 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Originally called “The Big Game,” its first draw was on September 6, 1996. It was one of the first multi-state lotteries to be introduced to generate large jackpots. Currently, 11 states are part of MEGA Millions, including New York, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington.

2005 2nd Quarter Press Releases: Article